10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com McCollum’s 24 points push Portland past Memphis By CLAY BAILEY Associated Press AP Photo/Brandon Dill Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum (3) drives against Memphis Grizzlies center Deyonta Davis (21) in Monday’s game. MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Portland is clamping down on defense and the effort is leading to recent success for the Trail Blazers. The team has held seven of the last eight opponents under 100 points, including Memphis on Monday night as the Trail Blazers pulled away from the Grizzlies for a 100-92 win. C. J. McCollum scored 24 points and Damian Lillard added 21 points as Portland sent Memphis to its fifth straight loss. “Defensively we were able to get some stops down the stretch,” McCo- llum said of Portland’s ability to pull away after the game was tied at 80 with 6:41 remaining. “Noah (Vonleh) had some big baskets. Big rebounds. UP NEXT: BLAZERS • Portland Trail Blazers (10-7) at Philadelphia 76ers (9-7) • Wednesday, 4 p.m. TV: NSNW Different guys stepped up. Every- body did a little bit of everything.” Shabazz Napier added 16 points, while Noah Vonleh finished with 11 points and 18 rebounds for Portland, which won its second straight and fourth in the last five. “The other team was just missing a lot of shots, and I was just having a nose for the ball,” Vonleh said. “Box- ing my guy out and going after it, that was my mindset.” Vonleh’s rebounds were part of the Trail Blazers controlling the boards, outrebounding Memphis 60-35. “Crushed us on the glass,” Mem- phis coach David Fizdale said. “We finally got our defense activated again, and I felt like we were back somewhat looking like our early season self. But the glass just really killed us.” Mario Chalmers led Mem- phis with a season-high 21 points, while Tyreke Evans finished with 20. Marc Gasol had 19 points, seven assists and 12 rebounds, but was 7 of 20 from the floor, part of the Griz- zlies shooting 38 percent for the game, and 27 percent from outside the arc. The teams were tied at 80 with 6:47 left after Gasol split a pair of free throws. But Jusuf Nurkic, who had 10 points, converted a 3-point play and put the Trail Blazers ahead for good. SPORTS IN BRIEF Oregon signs center Bol Bol EUGENE — Center Bol Bol, son of the late Manute Bol, has signed a letter of intent to play at Oregon. Bol is considered a five-star recruit and is the highest-ranked prospect ever signed by the Ducks. The nearly 7-foot-2 Bol announced his decision on the Players’ Tri- bune website. Bol selected Oregon over Ken- tucky. He said he had thought about his father in recent days as he was making the decision. Man- ute Bol was a 7-foot-7 center who played 12 seasons in the NBA. He passed away in 2010. Duncan, Stockton headline college hoops Hall of Fame class KANSAS CITY, Mo. — John Stockton and Tim Duncan made their names in college, polished their legacies in the NBA, and retired with resumes that made them a lock for induction into just about any Hall of Fame. Hard to believe there was a time when a precious few wanted them. Stockton was an undersized point guard in the Pacific North- west with competing offers from Idaho and Montana when he decided to continue his fami- ly’s legacy at Gonzaga. Duncan dreamed of becoming a swim- mer before a hurricane wiped out the only Olympic-size pool in the Virgin Islands, turning him toward hoops in the ninth grade — too late for many schools to recruit him but not for Wake Forest. Hall of Fame ballot newcomers: Jones, Thome, Vizquel NEW YORK — Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel are among 19 first-time candidates on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot for baseball’s Hall of Fame. They are joined by Johan San- tana and Chris Carpenter. Also among the newcomers to the 33-man ballot announced Monday are Jamie Moyer, Andruw Jones, Carlos Lee, Kevin Millwood, Carlos Zambrano and Johnny Damon. Trevor Hoffman, who fell five votes short last year, leads hold- overs that include Vladimir Guer- rero, Edgar Martinez, Roger Cle- mens, Barry Bonds, Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling. Roy Halladay will not appear on the ballot for another year. The retired pitcher died Nov. 7 at age 40 when a plane he was piloting crashed off Florida. A player who dies less than five full years after retiring is eligible in the next elec- tion six months following his death or at the end of the five-year wait after his retirement, whichever comes first. Halladay had been set to be eligible in the ballot sent to voters in late 2018. — Associated Press AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson passes against the Atlanta Falcons in Monday’s game. Short-handed Seahawks no longer have same leeway for errors By TIM BOOTH Associated Press S UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS EATTLE — There used to be some lat- itude for the Seattle Seahawks that if something went wrong, they had the skill to persevere. That margin may be gone. Now, one poor decision or bad break may be too much to overcome for a talented team that has been beset by injuries to key players. The latest example came Monday night in Seattle’s 34-31 loss to Atlanta. The Seahawks were down four starters on defense, had no run game outside of Russell Wilson, were careless with timeouts in the second half and watched Blair Walsh’s 52-yard attempt at a tying field goal in the final seconds fall a cou- ple yards short. Instead of talk about Seattle’s resiliency playing without Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor, or pulling out a home victory to move atop the NFC West, the Seahawks were left to answer questions about strange special teams decisions and whether they must play differently going forward to have success. “I think for us, we stay the course,” Wil- • Seattle Seahawks (6-4) at San Francisco 49ers (1-9) • Sunday, 1:05 p.m. TV: FOX son said. “We don’t waver. I think that we’re going to have to score. We believe in that. We scored 31 tonight. Keep scoring. There are still more things out there. We can go get it.” Atlanta readily took advantage of Seat- tle’s shortcomings. Matt Ryan only had 195 yards passing, snapping his streak of 200- yard passing games at 64, but the Falcons still jumped on Seattle. They led 21-7 after two costly turnovers by Wilson in the first 16 min- utes of the game and held on in the final min- utes as Wilson nearly brought Seattle back. “We are a confident group. We know we have players that can match up with every- body,” said Falcons’ cornerback Desmond Trufant, responsible for one of those turn- overs with a first-quarter interception. “We have a great scheme, great chemistry, it’s just a great environment here. We just have to continue to put it on film and display it on game day.” Seattle’s special teams blunders will be debated after Carroll’s decision late in the first half to fake a field goal rather than hav- ing Walsh attempt a 35-yard kick that could have pulled the Seahawks within 24-20 at halftime. Seattle believed it had a touchdown with the call, yet it turned into a disaster when Luke Willson was slammed for a 4-yard loss. That decision was amplified at the end when Walsh’s kick fell short. “I was happy with everything else that I did in that game, but it’s tough that the last play is what it comes down to,” Walsh said. Here’s what else to know from Atlanta’s second straight victory over Seattle: MORE INJURIES: Already without Chancellor and Sherman from their sec- ondary, the Seahawks lost rookie corner- back Shaquill Griffin to a concussion on the second play of the game. Griffin’s absence forced Byron Maxwell into a far more prom- inent role after being signed to add depth this week. “It went OK. There’s a couple plays, prob- ably like two plays I wish I could have back,” Maxwell said. Phil Knight’s tourney draws top-10 teams to Oregon By DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press AP Photo/Gerry Broome Duke head coach Mike Krzyzews- ki speaks with an official during the first half of Monday’s game against Furman in Durham, N.C. Nike founder Phil Knight is throw- ing a birthday party and every college basketball fan is invited. Well, they can at least watch it on TV. Knight is celebrating his 80th birthday by staging a two-bracket tournament — the PK80 — begin- ning Thursday in Oregon. It includes some of the sport’s heaviest hitters, too, including four schools ranked in the top 10 this week: No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 7 Florida and ninth-ranked North Carolina. No. 17 Gonzaga is also in the field along with Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas, schools that are all receiving votes. There are 16 teams total, eight lined up in each bracket. “It’s a big, big, big-time deal for our program and our fans,” said Gon- zaga coach Mark Few, whose team opens with Ohio State and could even- tually play the Blue Devils in their bracket. One big question is whether Miles Bridges will play or the Spartans. The star forward is day to day after sprain- ing his ankle in a victory over Stony Brook on Sunday. “By Tuesday morning I’ll know a little bit more,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Miles is tough enough to play through it, but we’re not going to take any chances either. We’re going to have to see where it’s at.” Knight’s tournament in Ore- gon is certain to grab headlines, but it’s hardly the only tournament to be thankful for this week. Here are some of the others: — The Maui Invitational began Monday with sixth-ranked Wichita State rallying from an 18-point hole to beat California and No. 13 Notre Dame beating host Chaminade. They are back in action Tuesday with a chance to meet for the championship on Wednesday. — The Battle 4 Atlantis begins in the Bahamas on Tuesday with No. 2 Arizona perhaps on a collision course with fifth-ranked Villanova. No. 18 Purdue, North Carolina State and SMU are also in the field. — The Hall of Fame Classic will be decided Tuesday night when Creighton plays No. 25 Baylor in the finals. No. 23 UCLA will meet Wis- consin in the third-place matchup. — The Cayman Islands Classic is highlighted by No. 12 Cincinnati, which plays Richmond in the semi- final Tuesday. The winner gets Lou- isiana or Wyoming for the title on Wednesday.